The basic thrust of this episode centers around Hannah, kind of a reverse Longshot; if she’s around, the odds will be defied and terrible things will happen, whether it’s a gas station blowing up or a cop car suddenly trying to flatten one of the angry mob of villagers that this show apparently believes live in Utah. Coulson has the brilliant idea of taking this woman onto his flying headquarters, because it’s not dangerous when things go wrong on an airplane. Haunted house-type antics ensue.

This episode is largely centered around May, meaning Ming-Na Wen finally has something to do other than stand around looking stern and occasionally punch people. We learn that she and Ward have been boning off and on in the opening of the episode, and the end stinger shows she might be warming up a bit, paying off the running gag of pranks running through the episode.

The main problem is the villain; as characterized, basically he’s not evil enough. The episode hints all throughout that the real antagonist, who admittedly is a great one-off villain, was trying to sabotage Hannah’s career, and you think you’re getting a classic supervillain unable to admit his agonizing powers are his own fault.

Instead the episode chickens out. It turns out he’s just a lovestruck puppy dog phasing between universes, and we’re supposed to feel bad for him despite the fact that he has literally done absolutely nothing redeemable or justifiable throughout the entire episode. How he’s disposed of is irritating, as well; one suspects there’s a better draft of this episode, sitting in the network’s drawer.

That said, at least the episode flows and follows on its strong concept, and for once we have an actual supervillain. And in two weeks, it looks like J. August Richards will be back as the Luke Cage knockoff. Maybe soon we’ll have a superhero and a supervillain in the same episode!

Some more thoughts:

Skye is increasingly showing her value as a member of the team, although you have to wonder why “checking Facebook” isn’t part of S.H.I.E.L.D. S.O.P.

That “angry mob” in front of Hannah’s house is possibly one of the saddest moments this show has put together.

You kind of think it’d be Coulson and May together, but Ward and May is pretty fun. It’s pretty rare for a TV show to feature an Asian woman in her fifties boning a guy half her age.

Well, they had Graviton, but he didn’t really show up until the end. I just don’t get why, with zillions of bad guys out there, why we don’t see non-movie-level guys like paste pot pete or stilt man. Hell, where’s the Tinkerer?

You think I’m joking but I swear every time Maggie Smith appears on screen I’m worried she’s about to lead the Legion of Doom into battle. Hell, “Dowager Countess” is already a fantastic name for someone who fights the Fantastic Four. I’ve seen like three episodes of that show and I swear to god at one point she was about to turn to her butler and snarl “Bring me the head of this “Batman” person.”

Going into this I never expected to get many already established characters, let alone super villains. I figure at best stuff like that will be held for sweeps. I just hope we never see any of that stupid super power “cocktail” thing ever again.

I also think they’ve given each character a solo-feature at this point, meaning, they should be done with their “struggling beginner show and character building” antics and can finally get on with just making some good television. Or, you know, continue to be middling, but watchable.

– Coulson calls into SHIELD and references code 6-1-6, or, the Marvel 616 universe, which in the comics is the main continuity line.

– Some have been speculating that “The Calvary” story is in reference to May having to go in and put down a mother (SHIELD agent? Super hero?) who then left a daughter behind. That daughter: Maybe Skye?! (I don’t know)

– I thought Ward did pretty well this episode. He still got all punchy, but his whole sandwich making scene was a scene prop that actually added to his character. Sure, it was just an excuse to get a knife into the scene (which annoyingly wasn’t used to stab!), but what if Ward is a master chef? A very delicate foie gra connoisseur? That would at least be something.

– Pretty sure their emphasis on Hell and reference to Thor dimensions means this guy was stuck in one of the 9 Realms, specifically Muspelheim. That’s like the Marvel Hell, so, makes sense.

The show still isn’t that good, but I’m still watching it, so. Call me a sucker.

It was just an odd episode. It totally felt like it should have been a Halloween episode. I didn’t hate it but all the religious talk and then “Only God forgives line”. I just didn’t know what to make of it.

In the pilot they said they would give J. August Richards character a new identity. He is back in the next episode. What if they name him Luke Cage, and he is the star of the Netflix series? That would be some serious Marvel universe continuity.

Interesting note, checking a look at the numbers, this week’s episode is being reported as having a major jump in ratings. After a couple episodes in a row showing 6 point something million viewers, this one jumped up to 9.3, which is higher than any episode save the pilot. I wonder if this is actually a major increase in people watching the show, or rather if for some reason a bunch of people who normally DVR watched live.

a lot of people are off work this week, stuck hanging out with their families, trapped in a world where TV is their only option to get away from their mother….so my guess is more people are watching this week cuz of that.

There’s no denying that this show has a certain layer of cheese, and dismissive wank inducing scenes, but I still find it entertaining. Especially when you pretend Ward is Bruce Campbell.
I must be getting old, because many of the lighter moments on the show actually amuse me.

So like 7 episodes in and no super-villain yet? How can they even call this a Marvel show? As much as I don’t like Arrow because they try to make him Green Batman I do love the villains and the nods to the greater DC Universe.

I thought the title of this post meant that the show had gone on hiatus while the writers tried to make it interesting enough to watch. I expect so much more from Joss Whedon since I’ve loved everything else he’s done. Maybe he figured, “Hey, I made some of the best TV ever when I wrote Firefly and it flopped, so maybe if I make boring dren the masses will love it!”